Hellfire
by Ethiercn
Summary: Sequel to Glimpses. X-Men vs. the Hellfire Club. Mostly Firestar/Cannonball. Some Logan/Jean/Scott.


Hellfire

By Ethiercn

Author's Note – This story takes place after "Glimpses". It is set in the X-Men movie verse. It is not canon with _X3. _A scold's bridle was a medieval device. It was made out metal and put over the head of a woman. There was a bit that was forced into her mouth. The device prevented the wearer from talking.

The X-Men, Hellfire, and other recognizable characters are the property of Marvel. I am making no profit from this.

"We can take them," Logan said confidently, glancing over to Storm.

"You just want Scott to pay for your next beer," Storm replied calmly. "But, in this, you are correct."

The adult X-Men, with the addition of Colossus, were in the danger room. Today's exercise pitted one team against another. Xavier was experimenting with various teams, sometimes working all the X-Men together, sometimes dividing them into every changing teams. He felt that Colossus had earned the right to participate because of his performance during Stryker's attack. This was the first time Colossus was working solely with the adults, and the young mutant was the envy of his peers for it. Xavier leaned over his microphone, "Go." He sat back in his chair to study the performance.

Gleefully dashing towards Cyclops, Logan dodged the optical blasts aimed at him. While the two men grudgingly respected each other, there was a high level of competition over Jean. Xavier knew that he would have to do something about that, but he didn't know what. Logan dodged one last optical blast before Cyclops' next one caught him full on, sending the cigar bearing mutant back against the wall. Grinning, Logan got on his feet and began to move towards Cyclops again.

Firestar and Nightcrawler had squared off. The agile blue skinned mutant easily dodged the young woman's microwave blasts, but he was unable to do much else because of the heat shield that the young woman had surrounded herself with. Xavier had to give Emma Frost credit; she trained her mutants well. Colossus' metal form allowed the young mutant to hold steady against Storm's wind, while Jean and Cannonball appeared to be in stalemate. Xavier furrowed his brow. Jean's sudden increase in power since Alkali Lake was disturbing, and he had suspicions that his prize pupil was holding back on her telepathy. He shook himself and turned his attention back to the training session.

Starting with Jean and Logan, Storm's team changed dancing partners. Using her telekinesis, Jean threw Logan towards Colossus. At the same time, Storm broke off her attack on her student, and slammed Cyclops against the wall with her winds. While Firestar flashed Cannonball, drawing the blonde haired mutant away from Jean, Jean telekinetically grabbed Nightcrawler.

Unusual tactic, Xavier thought. Cannonball was faster. He would have set Firestar against Colossus.

Then Storm's plan became clear to him. Suddenly, Wolverine broke away from Colossus as Firestar closed in, diving under the young mutant's legs. Lacking Firestar's maneuverability and small size, Cannonball slammed into his teammate. Blast field down, Cannonball was picked off by Logan while Firestar quite easily took out Colossus. Jean and Storm slammed Cyclops and Nightcrawler together.

Xavier smiled in pleasant surprise, "Well done," he spoke into the microphone, "Storm's team wins."

Logan pumped his fist in the air in triumph, before holding out a hand to help Cannonball up.

To tie or not to tie, that was the question.

Sam tucked his shirt into his pants. Should he wear a tie? While he wanted to make a good impression on Angelica's father, wearing a tie made him feel like he was going to be hanged. He put on his watch. It was just over a month since the events of Alkali Lake, and things were finally returning to a semblance of normalcy. The three newest members were fitting in, even Logan, his new drinking buddy, who kept laughing every time a student called professor or sir. Nightcrawler was sharing history duties with Ororo and gym duties with Logan. More important, Angelica showed no sign of leaving. The first couple of weeks had been hard. She had nightmares, but strangely, the dreams seemed to have made their relationship stronger. She had knocked on his door after the first one, despite the late hour. It pleased him that she trusted him enough to come to him, and he enjoyed waking up next to her. She was losing her wariness of the professor and Jean. In fact she, Jean, and Ororo had gone on a couple girls' nights out, though why they had seen _300_ he had no idea. Today, though, he was nervous. While he had survived Jupiter's interrogation, he knew from personal experience how protective a man could be over a female relative. After all, he and his brother were the same way with Paige and Melody.

There was a knock at the door. "It's open," he called.

Angel walked into the room; her freshly washed hair was piled on her head, and she wore green shirt and pair of slacks. "Is your father going to think less of me if I don't wear a tie?" he asked.

"I've only seen my father wear a tie three times. So, no," she replied coming up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He kissed her. "You sure you want to listen to that CD on the way?" he asked when he broke a way.

That CD was bagpipe music, something he couldn't stand, but because Jupiter played, Angel had a fondness for it.

"You lost the bet."

He kissed her again. "You're just getting back at me for Heinlein bet," he said referring to the first bet they had made. Upon discovering that she hadn't read _Stranger in Strange Land_ since high school, he suggested that if her team lost the Danger Room exercise, she would have to re-read it. Her reaction upon the finishing the book was "it was really bad 60s sexist claptrap".

She laughed. "Deserves you right. C'mon," she continued, pulling him towards the door. "We're going to be late, and that _will_ make Dad think less of you."

While Angel prepared the salad in the kitchen, Sam sat on the steps to Mr. Jones' back steps and watched the other man put the steaks on the grill. The older man's dark brown hair was turning gray, and he was dressed informally, jeans and a flannel shirt. Angel had been right, if he had worn a tie, Sam would have felt desperately out of place.

As he put the steaks on the grill, Bart Jones was, in turn, examining Samuel Guthrie. While impressed by the man's firm handshake, Bart Jones had been more impressed by the man's ability to recognize Angel's work, noting the paintings above the mantel and in the hallway when he had entered the house.

He tentatively approved of the man. "So you always wanted to be a teacher?" he asked.

The younger man looked up at him. "Not really. Ah always thought Ah would be working in the coal mines like my dad or running a farm, like my ma does now. Then Ah went to Xavier's, went to college, got a degree, and wanted to do something. Ah'll always like to read. One day, Ah've put aside enough for a farm, and then Ah'll do both. Ah like working with my hands, don't get to that when teaching English "

Bart Jones nodded; he always liked people who saved. He didn't understand some of these young people in the news, these flashy cars and Ipods instead of saving for school or a house. Thank god, Angel had a sensible head on her shoulders. He took pride in that. But there was something more important he wanted to know, "What is this school like? And this professor, what's he like? Angel said that it was a school for mutants, and it wasn't like where she had been before."

Bart felt Sam's eyes on him as the young man answered, "The school is a good school. It's family. And the Professor is the head, the father. He makes you strive to be better. His dream is a good dream, one worth fighting for. Ah hadn't thought of college until Ah met him. It's not like where Angel was before." His voice hardened a little at the end before he could stop himself. He didn't want to offend Mr. Jones, but the idea of such place angered him.

However, Bart Jones nodded in approval, "So you're a mutant?"

"Yes, sir."

"You're dating Angel because she's a mutant?" It wasn't something that Bart Jones ever thought he would ask, but there it was.

Sam almost choked on his drink, "No sir. I'm dating Angel because she's Angel."

It was the right thing to say. Bart Jones turned back to the steaks. "You like football?" he asked, hoping the man was a Giants fan.

Two days later, Angel and Paige drove into town. Angel needed some art supplies, and Paige's excuse was clothes. Sam had thrown her a doubtful look, but she mentioned the word underwear, and he had given her some of her clothing allowance. The real reason why she wanted to go was because she had to talk to Angel. Her brother was being too overprotective again, and since her mother was in Kentucky, she hoped she could win Angel over to her side of things.

"Angel," she began. "You and Sam are having sex right?"

Her companion threw her a look. Angel knew that Paige could be very direct; she just hadn't been excepting this. "Isn't this a conversation you should be having with your brother?"

They stopped at a light. "See Warren, the new guy," Paige was referring to the son of the Worthington billionaire, a recent addition to the student body, "likes me. He asked me to the movies. But Sam is being Sam, so I figured," actually her idea no longer seemed as clever as it had this morning, so she rushed it. "You could refuse to have sex with him until he wises up; you know like the play that he made us read," she finished, suddenly finding a spot on the dashboard to be very interesting.

Before Angelica could think of response, or even laugh, something pulled the car off the road and slammed it into a tree.

Marvel Boy, Vance Astrovik, looked at the crunched up car with pride, so far his plan was working. He was even lucky enough to have a present for Selene. Years ago, when the White Bitch had used him for Firestar's first kiss, he had dismissed the red haired mutant as pathetic and not worth his time and interest. Then she had rebelled, destroyed the underground training bunker, and defeated the three teams sent to fetch her. That made her far more of a challenge and far more attractive. He loved breaking strong women. Firestar was Selene's gift to him for his services. The fact that Firestar had been White Queen's pet project made it sweeter. He hated that bitch.

He watched as Firestar stumbled out of the car. "Move out," he said to his Hellfire team. "Just like we planned."

Groggy and dizzy, Angel made her way to the other side of the car. She melted the window, reached in, and felt Paige's pulse. She was alive but out of it. The car looked totaled, but there was no fire. Safer to leave Paige until help arrived, just in case she had a serious injury, Angel thought as she reached for her cell phone. What exactly had happened? How had she lost control of the car?

"Angelica, are you and Paige okay?" a voice shouted just as she was about to dial the mansion. She looked up. Sam was landing a few feet away. Why hadn't she heard his distinctive rumble? The crash must have confused her more than she thought. "How?" she started to ask.

"Jean sensed something and sent me."

Even to her disoriented mind that did not seem right. Even Sam couldn't have gotten here this quickly, could he? Before her disoriented mind could reach a conclusion, Sam's fist lashed out. The force of the blow sent her stumbling back against the hood of the car. She would have slid to the ground if some force hadn't reached out and lifted her off the ground.

Jean studied the computer screen. Neither she nor Xavier was quite sure how Rogue's powers worked. They understood the theory, just not the mechanics. After watching the girl struggle in her relationship with Bobby and seeing the frustration of not being able to simply touch someone, Jean decided to funnel her energy into figuring out a solution to the problem. This latest scan wasn't much help.

Of course, she was just simply hiding from her own unexplained growth in power, both her telekinesis and her telepathy. She had no idea what was going on with her own powers, so what made her think that she could help Rogue. She knew that most mutants grew more powerful or at least more talented with their powers as they aged. Cannonball's ability to focus his blast field outward and to extend it, were examples of this. This fact offered a small sliver of hope to Rogue, but it didn't explain, not fully, her own sudden power increase. Maybe when Hank came for a visit they could discuss both things. He was a far better scientist.

She closed her eyes to think. Instead, images from last night's dream flooded though her mind.

How could she figure out her own powers when she couldn't deicide which man she wanted? Scott was well, her Scott, the man she could bring home. But Logan was exciting, intoxicating, something in her, something primal, responded to him. She wondered if Ororo or Angelica ever felt this way. Maybe on their next girls' day out, she would work up the nerve to ask.

She stopped thinking. Her telepathy nudged her. Something was wrong. Very wrong. She reached out with her mind.

Angelica, of all the X-Men the most wary of telepathy, was screaming for help as loud as she could.

The pressure on Angel's throat choked her. She had sparred against Jean enough times to recognize the feeling of telekinesis. Sam, was it really Sam, stood before her. She didn't like the look on his face. What was going on? Was Paige okay?

"I expected more a little more from you, I have to admit," he said. "The shock of the crash no doubt." His eyes traveled down her body, evaluating,

"Sam, stop. Please," she grasped out.

"Be quiet," he growled. The pressure around her throat tightened, making it harder to breath. There was additional pressure on her chest as if someone was groping her. The forced ripped her shirt open, and there was an intrusive pressure on her inner thigh.

Some mutant like Jean, she thought, had to be controlling him.

She cut loose with a bolt of power, strong enough to push him back but not enough to hurt him, not with his blast field. The pressure ceased, and she dropped to the ground. She pushed herself up quickly.

Hellfire, she thought as she saw Catseye dashing towards the car. She blasted the cat mutant, making her back off. Firestar knew she needed height. She couldn't leave Paige, but she needed to see how many of them there were. She couldn't get Paige out of the car until she could turn her back.

She took to the air and looked over the scene. There was a man slowly getting to his feet, Catseye, a blonde man moving in, another cat mutant, a figure standing off to the side, well outside the battle zone. It must be the telepath who was controlling Sam. She needed to take that person out.

Before she could fire off a bolt, a blast of air slammed her to the ground. She landed hard and felt a sharp pain in her side. She twisted and saw the flyer above. She aimed a pulse at the man, who dodged most of the blast. Catseye was closing in. Firestar's next blast forced her to back off. The second cat dodged two blasts and then lunged at her, leaving a series of scratches down one of Firestar's arms before a blast knocked her off her feet.

A boot slammed into Firestar's side, and she screamed in pain. Sam was back. "Stop," was all she was able to say before he kicked her again. She slammed into the car. He reached down and grabbed her arm. Twisting it, he pulled her off the ground. He punched her in the stomach before pinning her to the car. "Scream for me," he hissed, punching her injured ribs. She couldn't help it; she screamed

She could see Catseye and the other cat mutant closing in, moving to secure the still unconscious Paige. Saw him draw back for another punch.

No choice, she thought.

She fired off a powerful blast. She heard the scream and smelled the burnt flesh. Her next blast hit Catseye. She took to the air, forcing the other mutants back. She could see the burnt body with the blonde hair. Why hadn't he gotten his shields up? He wasn't moving. Had she killed him?

Then the air was ripped from her lungs. She was thrown to the ground, something slammed into her, and she knew no more.

Marvel Boy knelt over Firestar's prostate form. Impressive he had to admit. Air Breaker, gingerly holding his bent arm hovered just behind him. "I don't think your plain worked quite as well as you thought," he said. "Catseye and Feral are singed. And Beef," he looked over at the fallen muscle man, "is badly burnt."

Both men turned briefly as Paige woke and let out a scream. Catseye and Feral had closed in on the younger mutant, and were about to collar her and remove her from the car. They turned away after a moment. Feral was iffy, but Catseye would make sure the young mutant wasn't harmed too badly.

"Stop whining,' Marvel said as he removed the control collar from his belt. "You knew the risks. You came in the hopes of impressing Selene. And do you really think Beef is that much of a loss? Tell Catseye and Feral to take the girl. You take Beef. Illusionist can meet us back at the chopper."

He grabbed Firestar's hair and yanked her head back, exposing her throat. He could see the marks his telekinesis had left and felt a thrill of pleasure knowing that his bruises would mar her skin. He should have knocked her out right a way but to see her confusion, panic, and pain had been empowering and intoxicating.

He heard something. Felt something.

There was a BAMF! behind him, from near the car.

Damm! Considering the Professor was away, he thought they would have more time.

Before he could get the color on his prize, before he could even get his shields up, he was pushed aside by another telekinetic as if he were no more than an annoying gnat.

Only his skill stopped the wild tumble before he hit a tree.

He saw the teleporter whisk his prize away. Saw Catseye taken down by Cannonball.

Felt the other telekinetic looking for him. What was taking Illusionist so long? They had planned for this.

The other X-Men suddenly stopped, all of them, except the one named Wolverine who was still fighting Feral. They hadn't expected the illusions to work on him anyway. Marvel Boy telekinetically snatched the others and fled.

Sam couldn't keep his eyes off Angel as she lay in the infirmary bed. He worried that she would wake up if he looked away, and, for some reason, it was important to him that he see her wake up.

He hated this helpless waiting. Hated it when he done it with his father. Hated it when it when it had been his mother. Hated it now.

At least Paige was okay. She was terrified but unhurt except for bruises. She had wanted to be here, but Jean was worried that Ang would be confused when she woke. Paige, therefore, was with Jubilee and Kitty, and he was under orders to let her know when Angel woke up.

Angel, on the other hand, had fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and bruises just about everywhere.

He hated feeling this helpless. He clenched his hands. He wanted to hit something, but Jean would not let him put a hole in another wall.

She stirred. He leaned forward in his chair. Her eyelids fluttered. She moaned. "Angelica," he said softly.

It was like he had touched her with a cattle prod. Her eyes snapped open. Before he could move off the chair, she pushed herself off the bed, grasping in pain as she hit the floor, put her back against the wall, and glowed faintly. She looked uncertain, confused, the wariness from when he had first met her was back.

"Easy," he said gently, keeping his voice low. "It's me. You're at the school."

She looked around, searching, "Paige?"

"Safe, upstairs," he said kneeling on the floor a couple feet away.

She finally looked at him. Her blue eyes were open wide. "You were there. I hurt you. You screamed."

He shook his head. "No, girl. That wasn't me. It's me, here now." He held out his hand. "You're safe. Paige is safe."

She shook her head, "I saw you." But her voice was softer, the note of panic fading just a little, and she was looking around the room.

"Do you remember that night, after we watched the foxes? Do you remember what I said? That I'm not going anywhere. You know what I meant. It's me." He moved closer to her.

Slowly, she powered down and reached out to grasp his hand. Her other hand traced the features of his face, her eyes watched his. "It is you," she said reassured. He nodded and gently cupped her uninjured cheek with his free hand.

"I'm sorry," she whispered so softly that he almost didn't hear her.

"Paige is fine," he repeated as he pulled her into his arms. But she didn't hear or didn't listen for she kept apologizing to him as if it were her fault. As she sobbed into his chest, he stroked her hair and murmured softly to her. Eventually, he picked her up and set her back on the bed, wrapping a blanket around her before pulling her back to him. Finally, her sobbing and trembling stopped. "Do you feel up talking to the others?" he asked, gently kissing her forehead.

Her hand still grasping his, she nodded.

A few minutes later, Logan, Jean, and Ororo came into the room. While Jean checked over Angel before asking any questions, Logan was far more direct, "Was it Hellfire?" he asked the minute he stepped inside the room.

Angelica nodded, "I think so. Catseye was there."

Logan nodded. He and Sam had reached the same conclusion. "So when do we go and get them?" Starting to light up a cigar and stopping when the others stared him. He sighed but didn't strike the match.

"We'll wait until the Professor gets back," Storm said quickly. "Did you recognize anyone else?" she asked of Angel.

Closing her eyes, Angel thought, remembering the attack from earlier in the day. The overwhelming images were those of Sam and of Paige slumped over the steering wheel. "There was some man who could control air, I think. Another cat mutant."

"Nasty one, that one," Logan interjected, earning him another sharp look from Ororo.

"But the others," Angel continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I don't know the others. There was one who stood off to the side. I thought," she started trembling again. She hated that. "I thought he, she, was controlling Sam." Sam's thumb lightly stoked her palm, and he pulled the blanket more closely around her.

"That must have been the one who made them disappear," Sam said looking at Logan.

"Made them look like they disappeared," Logan replied. "They were still there. I could smell them. The rest of you need to develop your sense of smell more."

"We'll practice that in our next training session," Storm snapped. "What else do you remember?"

Angel shook her head, "It's all a jumble, confused. I never knew many of the other students at the Academy anyway." She raised her eyes to met Jean's.

"Are you sure?" the other woman asked.

"It's the only way, isn't it?" Angel's hand tightened on Sam's.

Jean nodded. Gently placing her hands on either side of Angel's face, Jean entered the other mutant's mind. She found the memories of today's attack. She was able to watch the attack from an onlooker's perspective and gained a clearer idea of the powers of the mutants in question. A telekinetic, a sick pervert from the look of him; the second man was properly simply strength, the cats, the air controller. After a few minutes, she withdrew.

"Thank you," Jean said, handing Angel a glass of water and some pills. "Take these. Get some rest. We can't do anything until the Professor and Scott get back anyway." She ignored Logan's snort.

"Ah'll stay with her, " Sam quietly. "If you could send Paige down."

When Angel woke, Sam's arms were still wrapped around her. She had fallen asleep sitting up, the only position where her ribs did not hurt. Paige had fallen asleep on another cot, her blonde hair spread across the pillow.

"Go back to sleep," Sam whispered in ear. "It's late."

She moved her head so she could hear his heart beat. She looked down at their entwined hands. She feared that if she let go that this would be a dream and the nightmare that had been the crash would become reality. She loved his hands; they were gentle, strong, an anchor to reality. They made her feel safe and loved. Being wrapped in his arms lessened the horror of the image of his burned body and the fear that she had killed him. "I love you," she said quietly.

He leaned his head down so he could kiss her cheek. "I know, Angel. Every time you touch me, look at me, I know." He kissed her cheek again. "Go back to sleep."

She closed her eyes, but sleep would not come. " I don't think you should have assigned the _Lysistrata_."

His fell on the sleeping Paige. "What has that girl thought of?"

"To convince you to lay off Warren, she wants me to go on a sex strike."

He laughed then stopped. "You told her no, right?"

New York

Selene slapped Marvel Boy across the face hard. Usually, she was content with her prize recruit, but some times he annoyed her to no end. "You failed. We'll be lucky if Beef recovers. Even if he does, it will be a miracle if he regains his sight." The Black Queen stalked across the room. Her hold on the Hellfire Club was tenuous. She didn't even have full control with Shaw still alive and the White Queen still running the Massachusetts Academy. Each failure hurt her attempt to consolidate power. "You let your lust distract you. You should have collared them quickly and returned."

Marvel Boy stared back at her with a sulky expression on his face. "It won't happen again. We will be better prepared next time," he straightened his slouched position; "It wasn't a total loss."

Selene sat down behind her desk. She raised an eyebrow.

Vance took it as a sign to continue, "We learned something. She will stay and defend friends. We never tried that before. And it worked as a distraction. I take it they didn't notice our hacking into their files. And our attack was the closest we ever got," this last was said with a note of pride.

"But it wasn't a success," she replied deflating his bubble just a little. "However, you are right; it did give us cover that might make up for the loss of Beef." She leaned back in her chair, studying the young man before her. "Go get cleaned up. I will need you at the dinner tonight in case anything happens. Perhaps, if you perform well, I will arrange for," she chose her word carefully, "a companion for you tonight. You must have some frustrations you need to work out. Go."

After Selene dismissed him, Vance returned to his rooms. Looking over the restraints, whip, and other devices, including a scold's bridle, he felt a surge of anger. Al his planning had come up empty. Even if Selene arranged for a companion, the woman would hardly be as entertaining as the delights he had been planning and imaging for weeks. Now, he would have to prove himself again before Selene gave him permission for another attempt. The waiting would be worse because of the taste he had taken this morning. He smiled in satisfaction as he remembered her before him, under his control and the despair on her face as she thought she had hurt her lover. He didn't even need to close his eyes to see her restrained by the chains, screaming while he took what he wanted. He went over to his computer, switched it on. He would upload the tapes from today's attempt while he took a shower then he would study them. He would not make a mistake again.

Connecticut

In her office at the Massachusetts Academy, Emma Frost smiled to herself in satisfaction. Any failure of Selene's was pleasant. Frost stretched and moved slowly out of her meditative position. She would have to report the news of this failure to Shaw in half an hour. Part of her was proud that her erstwhile student had given Selene's team a beating. Another more hidden part was relieved.

Firestar was far too powerful and important to be a plaything for that silly, weak minded pervert Marvel Boy.

Frost's life had not been entirely easy since Selene had seized control over the Hellfire Club. But finally, there were possibilities. There was that power that every telepath on earth had felt at Alkali Lake weeks ago. If she could find a way to seize it, control it, then Selene would be powerless, and she and Shaw would have control of the Hellfire Club again.

Westchester-Three weeks later.

Logan walked in on a fight. He hadn't meant to; he was just looking for a quiet place to drink a couple of the beers he had smuggled onto the campus. With the majority of the students in the danger room or studying, he figured that the garage was as a good place as any. Instead, he had walked in on a fight between Sam and Angel. Not that he minded. He always enjoyed a good fight and beer was more enjoyable with a show.

"I'm not going to stay in the mansion like some frightened rabbit," Angel shouted at Sam. Good for her, Logan thought as he opened a bottle.

"Ah'm not saying that," Sam replied, stepping away from his truck, wiping his hands on a rag. Logan could see the man was trying to keep his own temper in check. While he didn't agree with Sam's idea, Logan knew it was fueled by worry; after all, he had seen Sam's face when they rescued Angel and Paige. "It's just until . . ." Sam tried to finish.

"Until when? We do what Logan suggests and tear down the Academy?" Angel interrupted.

"Finally, someone agrees with me," Logan interjected; he couldn't help himself.

The other two teachers turned and glared at him.

"You're not helping," Sam said, his blue eyes narrowing as he looked at the other mutant.

"Wasn't trying to, kid," Logan replied, sitting on the hood of One Eye's car and taking a swig of his beer. After overhearing a conversation between the couple about the Han Solo shots Greedo variants in _Star Wars_ and whether Obi-Wan's "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" meant that he was a Sith too, he passed them off as geeks. But they had surprised him, from their willingness to go out in the training sessions, to their liking of Guinness (always nice to see in people), to their actions against Hellfire. Perhaps they were geeks, but they were his type of geeks.

Deciding to ignore him, Sam turned back to Angel. She had been reading _The Fourth Bear_ while he was working on the truck. When he mentioned that he should go into town and get her supplies while she stayed safe at the school, she exploded. "Look," he said as calmly as he could. This was not going like he had planned. "They attacked you."

"I know; I was there," she snapped.

Another point for Red, Logan thought. He smiled. They had forgotten he was there.

"They almost won," Sam continued as if she hadn't said anything. "If we hadn't arrived when we did . . . and that man," he stopped when he saw her wince. He wasn't trying to be too overprotective; he just wanted her to be safe. Every day he saw her lying unconscious on the ground or lying still in the infirmary bed.

"I know," she trying to bring her temper back under control. "I didn't hide before. I'm not going to hide now." Didn't he know that Hellfire was less likely to attack the school if she left the grounds? She was a danger to the others if she stayed on campus, Angel thought. "If Paige . . ."

"This isn't like the other times," Sam's interrupted, his temper finally reaching the boiling point. "And Paige is different. Ah'm not going to let you do this."

Logan looked around for cover. You never said that to a woman, not if you wanted to live at any rate.

Angel's eyes glowed dangerously. "Let me? You're _not_ going _to let_ me?" Angel didn't need to shout, the cold tone in her voice worked just as well.

That hadn't come out the way he intended, Sam thought. "That's not what Ah . . .," he tried, but she didn't give him a chance to finish. Picking up her book and throwing both him and Logan a look of disgust, she left the garage. "Damm!" Sam growled, throwing his rag across the garage.

Somewhat disappointed the fight was over; Logan took a pull on the beer and studied his drinking buddy. "I think it was the 'I'm not going to let you'," he began.

"Ah know," Sam replied shortly. Slamming down the hood of the truck, he walked over to Logan and took a beer from the six pack. Logan let him; he respected the punches that Sam could throw. He could actually feel them. "She's just being stubborn," the blond haired man continued.

"Yea, well, she isn't the only one. And speaking from experience, she wouldn't have survived if she wasn't."

"You're still not helping."

"Still not to trying to."

They drank in silence for a few minutes. "Did you try getting Jean or Storm to talk to her?" Logan asked.

"Do you want to know what they said after they stopped laughing at me?" Sam got up and started to put away his tools.

"I can imagine," Logan replied dryly. "I still don't understand why Scott and Charlie rejected my plan."

"Ah think it had something to do with the students at the Academy," Sam put a few more tools away. He had, in fact, agreed with Logan's plan.

Logan shrugged, "Have you suggested going with her?"

Sam shook his head, "Paige says Ah'm being too over-protective. That Ah'm hovering over the both of them too much."

"Jean screamed the same thing at Scott and me after Alkali Lake."

"I remember. The rest of us were betting on whether or not she would send both of you though the kitchen window," Sam put up the last of the tools and retrieved the rag. "Storm won. She said Jean wouldn't want to hurt the window."

Logan chuckled. He opened another beer and thought for a moment. The others did not have his senses, so he could understand and, on a level, agree with Sam's concern. "There's another option, you know," he said.

Sam didn't have a chance to speak to Angel until later that evening. When he left the garage, she had been in a training session with Storm, experimenting with her powers. Then, he had some tutoring sessions before dinner. After dinner, she had her advanced class with Peter and a couple other students who were good at art. It wasn't until the evening that he was able to get her alone. He found in her room, bent over her table working on an illustration. Pumpkin, the most doggish cat Sam had ever met, was in his window seat no doubt sleeping after his evening game of fetch. While he composed his thoughts, he idly surveyed the room. She had framed Fortin and Parrish prints on the walls, a recent edition was a postcard of _October _which they had seen at the Montreal art museum during a school trip. Sitting on a chair was the stuffed dog that he had won for her at the state fair when they had first started dating. For the first time, he saw something else, something that he liked. Mixed in with her belongings were his things. A few of his books, his clothes, and a stack of papers he had to grade sat on her desk, resting with some of her work. The fear and the fierce anger he had felt arriving on the scene still hung over him, and he hadn't wanted to leave Angel while she had been recovering. But he knew that Paige was right; he had been too overprotective lately. Angel, no doubt because of the illusion, had been more tolerant of his behavior than Paige, but she had to be chafing under it as well. "Ah'm sorry," he said as came fully into the room, closing the door behind him.

Startled, she looked up from her work, saw him and relaxed. Brushing back a stray lock of her hair, she said, "I'm sorry too. I overreacted. I shouldn't have shouted. You were just being . . ."

"Overprotective," he interrupted smoothly putting down his books on a chair.

"Worried," she countered.

"Yeah, Ah'm that to," he replied, coming to stand behind her, gently sliding his arms around her waist, and peering down at what she was working on. "Trying to create Puss in Boots?"

She nodded. She worked for a few minutes more, he leaning over and watching the outward show of the creative process in work. "Sam," she said, setting down her pencil. "Maybe I should leave the. ... "

"No!" he interrupted sharply, his arms momentarily tightening around her waist before he remembered her still tender ribs. He turned her chair around so she was facing him. Considering how guilty she felt about Paige, he had feared that she actually do what she had proposed.

"If they attack the school," she continued.

"If they were going to do so, they would've already done so," he pointed out.

She tried again, "If anything happens. . . "

"It's their fault," he finished.

She shook her head and looked down at her hands. The depth of feeling she had for him at times frightened her because she had never felt this way before. She wanted to make him understand. "I'm terrified that something will happen to you, to Paige, to the others. They never attacked anyone but me before. I should leave. But I . . . . You. . What we have . . .," she couldn't finish.

She didn't need to. He knew what she was trying to say. "Look at me," he said softly, cupping her face in his hands. He could see the tears in her eyes. "Don't you think Ah feel the same way? Ah love you, and Ah never want to se you hurt like that again." He kissed her gently. "But this is the hard part. Ah can't be overprotective, and you have to let me, us, fight for and with you. We get though this together or not at all." He kissed her again, more deeply this time, pulling her off the chair to him, and finally burying his hands in her hair. He felt her arms wrap around him. "Don't go," he murmured.

"I don't think I can, "she said softly, before he kissed her again. He slide his hands down her back and then under her shirt, her skin warm under his touch. He felt her fingers undoing the buttons of his shirt and then resting on his skin. "Your ribs?" he asked.

"We'll figure something out," she replied, as her hand moved to the zipper of his jeans.

He smiled and pulled off her shirt. The papers could wait; he thought as he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

Later, when they could breathe again and as she lay resting against his chest, he said, "Logan has an idea."

She kissed the palm of his hand, "Does it involve his usual beer run?"

He smiled, "Scott is going to throw a fit if he ever finds out about those. Most likely it does, but that's beside the point. He suggested, because of that mutant who did the illusions, that he or Jean go with you to avoid confusion. Not as a babysitter, but as back up."

She sighed. It still felt like a babysitter, but it made sense, "Okay."

New York

Vance knocked on the door to Selene's office. Outwardly calm, inside he was fuming. Three weeks. His team, the best team, had been inactive for three weeks. He could understand why they had been forbidden to attack the X-Men, but to be sidelined? His team was far better than Empath's, which had been trained by the White Queen.

"Come," Selene's imperious voice finally called.

When he entered her office, Selene was sitting behind her desk and staring at her computer screen. He waited. It was always good to wait patiently.

'"Is your team ready?" she asked after a few minutes.

Finally. "Yes. We have a replacement for Beef."

She nodded, "Bevatron. Not muscle but fire power. He's stupid so use him carefully. The next able recruit will be yours. I think we should be able to recruit one of Xavier's old students," she finished with a tight smile. "And I know you have waited patiently for your reward. I'm afraid you are going to have wait a bit longer. This mission is far more important, which is why your team must be the ones to do it. I want you to bring me this mutant," she turned the computer screen so he could see the picture. "Do this and the girl is yours."

"So ladies," Ororo said as they exited the store. "Where to next? Lunch? A movie?". She turned to face the two women who were walking behind her. "Should we just drive?" She gently tapped the side of her leg with her shopping bag.

Angel smiled. It felt good to just get off the school grounds for a couple hours. At this point, she didn't care what they did as long as they were out for the day.

Jean looked at her watch, "It's too early for lunch. So a movie?" she suggested.

"What type of movie?" Ororo asked as the three made their way to the car.

"A comedy," Angel supplied quickly.

Ororo nodded in agreement. "I brought the paper so we'll take a look." She put her bag in the car. "Jean?"

Angel looked over. There was that look on Jean's face, the look she got when she and the Professor were mind talking.

"We have to get back to the school."

Outside of New York

At least that horrid sack was no longer over his head, Hank McCoy thought as he looked around the room. He hadn't realized people still did that.

He scrunched up his head at the same time he straightened his shoulders, trying to get a look at what was around his neck. He could feel a collar, but he couldn't get a look at it. Metal, for he felt it pressing against his skin. The collar was most likely suppressing his strength and agility. Strange. He had seen mutant restraints before, and they didn't work quite like this. It had to be more than the simple neural clapping. Some kind of genetic nullification perhaps. But how the collar did it, he couldn't figure out. It did not feel like his skin was punctured, so it couldn't be accessing his bloodstream.

Fascinating. He would have to take one with him when he got out of this predicament.

It would, of course, help if he knew what exactly his predicament was.

He idly wondered what they had used to keep him unconscious. He remembered being attacked. But then nothing.

He looked around the room. He was the only person in it. There was another chair directly across from him and nothing else. Even the walls were a plain off color white. They could at least put a few paintings on the wall.

The door opened and a beautiful, dark haired woman walked in. If he was going to be taken prisoner, he had an attractive jailer. She was dressed in some kind of black S&M outfit. Perhaps a high class brothel wanted to make use of his brain power. He would have to resist the urge to ask if she went out to the super market in such a costume. Trailing after the woman was a brown haired young man whom Beast dimly recognized as the man who had come to his office earlier that day.

He sighed. He wasn't going to be propositioned.

The woman took the seat across from him, her silted skirt revealing a long length of thigh. "Hello," she said.

"Greetings and salutations," he replied. "Could I impose upon you to release me from these restraints?"

The young man smirked at him. The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dr. McCoy that will not be possible. We do not need for you to use your mutant abilities."

"Is there a reason why I am here? If you wanted to woo me a bottle of Merlot would have been far more effective."

Smiling slightly, she leaned back, resting one arm on the back of her chair. "I'll keep that in mind for the future. But my desire is far more mundane. I wish to know where the child is."

He blinked. "What child, my dear?. I know many children."

"True. Let me be more exact. I want to know where the child called Leech is."

Beast wondered how much they knew. "I know no child by that name," he lied.

The woman smiled at him. "Please Dr. McCoy, don't lie to me. Things will be easier if you do not lie to me."

"My dear, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she rose from her seat. "I'll be back. I would advise you to think over your position." She left. Her bodyguard gave him another smirk before leaving.

"This is a foolish plan, Selene," Emma Frost hissed as the two women stood in the de facto study in the warehouse the Hellfire Club owned. "Did your puppet come up with it?"

Selene resisted the urge to strangle Frost. She couldn't kill the other woman, at least not yet. She needed the telepathic abilities that Frost controlled. She stopped herself from grinding her teeth. "No. But this mutant is a danger to all of us. If they use him for "cure"."

"Who is "they"?" Frost interrupted dryly.

Selene narrowed her eye. The woman was making this unnecessary difficult. "The government, medical companies, Bill Gates. Pick someone." She shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"And you want the child why?" Frost asked, crossing her arms.

"Because then we control the source," Selene replied in a tone of voice that suggested Frost had not progressed beyond kindergarten.

"And the reason why we have secured Hank McCoy?"

"Because he knows where the child is," Selene stopped herself from adding, you stupid cow. "And that is why you must pluck it from his mind, Emma."

"You are aware that Dr. McCoy's associates will try to recover him."

Selene smiled at the White Queen. "Of course, they will. I'm planning on it. Perhaps, I will even let you have a reunion with your erstwhile pupil before I turned her over to Mr. Astrovik."

"Your pet pervert? Angelica Jones is far more important than that," Frost said keeping her temper in check, though her posture stiffened.

"You had your chance. We all know what a failure that was. I'm sure my second will be far more persuasive."

Frost dipped her head down so Selene would not see her small smile of satisfaction. If the X-Men were coming that meant the power was, and then she could get. Once she did, everything would be over for Selene.

Cyclops knelt in the bushes. Wolverine and Cannonball knelt behind him. A few yards away, Storm and Firestar were crouched in another set of brushes. At the moment, he could see Storm's power give them a little more cover. They didn't want too much, just enough so Hellfire knew they were being attacked and send people out. Hopefully, they would provide enough of a distraction that Jean and Nightcrawler would be able to get Beast out.

Briefly, he wondered why Jean seemed so sure that Beast was here when even the Professor was not even entirely sure. It worried him.

"Something smells wrong," Wolverine said from behind him. For the past few minutes the other man had been quiet but now his comments were coming fast and strong. Cyclops wished that the mutant would shut up. It was bad enough that he had to put with the man's constant flirting with Jean, but couldn't he even quiet doing a mission? "What smells funny?" Cyclops asked, keeping his voice neutral.

"Don't know. Something." Logan shook his head, trying to clear it. He resisted the rage that he felt growing inside of him. He tried to control the sudden desire he felt to sink his claws into Cyclops' stomach and feel the other man's blood. He could smell One Eye's rising anger as well.

They could never figure out who threw the first punch. But luckily for them both, before any real damage occurred, Cannonball threw up his blast shield, keeping them apart.

Noticing Cannonball's blast field, Storm asked, "What is going on over there?""Storm," Firestar said, touching the other woman on the arm and pointing. "I think that's one who controls the air."

Storm looked where her friend was pointing and saw the man flying towards them. He looked silly with a visor and overlong ponytail. She felt a sharp surge of anger. Who was he to think that he could control the weather? She was the weather witch. She used her winds to lift her into the air.

And was promptly thrown back down by the strength of hurricane blast. "Hell," she shouted as she hit the ground. She was, what was the word Logan used, pissed. Her anger was raging so strongly that she didn't notice Feral about to jump her from behind.

Firestar's blast caught Feral mid-leap as the mutant leapt. Feral fell to the ground just as Storm rose in the air. Firestar took to the air as well, dodging a blast from another mutant. Not very good, she thought, blasting at him. The burst forced him back. He turned and knocked himself out by running into a tree.

Firestar looked around. Storm seemed to be doing well against the air mutant, but what was going on with Cyclops' group. She could see Cannonball's field holding the other two mutants apart. It was unclear if he was trying to protect Cyclops from Wolverine or vice versa. She could hear the cursing.

Storm had cursed when she hit the ground. Firestar had never heard the other mutant curse before. Something was . . .

Empath.

Where was that bastard?

Cannonball cursed words that if his mother even heard him using she would wash his mouth out with soap, despite his age. Why were they trying to kill each other? He knew that they didn't like each other much, but this? He looked around for help. Standing off to the side, smiling in amusement was a man. Cannonball recognized him. It was that bastard who had attacked Angel and Paige. The asshole who had been trying to collar Angel.

Cannonball wanted to kill him.

He focused his blast field outward, pushing both Wolverine and Cyclops back. Not caring if they were fully unconscious or if they were still trying to kill each other, he launched himself at the telekinetic.

Empath was worried. When Marvel Boy had asked for his help, he had agreed eagerly. His plan would closely follow the other team leader, up to a point. He didn't have a problem filling the X-Men with rage and making them kill each other. He, however, intended to let the rage filled Cannonball and Firestar kill Marvel Boy. That would be revenge enough for what he done to Roulette and would make Selene weaker.

Something that he, like his mentor, the White Queen desired.

Problem was, his plan wasn't quite working like he thought. He couldn't affect Firestar. It must be something about her power. He cursed. He needed a hiding place before she saw him.

There he was, Firestar thought, noticing Empath moving to a small clump of trees. Before she could follow, Storm tackled her from behind. Firestar pushed the other woman away. Hopefully, Storm's attack meant that the air mutant was down. She met Storm's lighting attack with one of her microwaves. Then Storm called the wind.

Firestar couldn't do much against the wind, and it wasn't possible to get a clean shot when you were being buffeted like a plastic bag. It was hard enough to stop from hitting the ground. And she couldn't do that much longer. Storm's attacks were getting fiercer.

Maybe she didn't have to attack Empath. If his powers weren't affecting her, perhaps she was disrupting them. Perhaps she could do that from here. She increased her output.

Gaining access to the house had been easy. Now, Nightcrawler and Jean paused in their walk though the hallway. Further down the hallway stood Storm.

"That's not Storm," they said together.

The agile blue mutant dashed down the hallway. Teleporting at the last minute, grapping his opponent and then dropping the woman from the ceiling.

Jean nodded in approval as she continued down the hallway. Nightcrawler followed her.

"This one," Jean said, stopping at a door. Nightcrawler pushed it open. An unconscious Beast sat in the middle of the room. Nightcrawler smiled. Since meeting the X-Men he kept running into other blue color mutants; it was nice. He teleported to just behind Beast. His hands were just reaching for the restraints when Frost mind blasted him.

"You must be Frost," Jean said coldly as the other woman stepped out from behind the door.

"You have something I want," Frost replied.

Jean smiled. It was an eerie echo of Logan's battle grin. "Then come and take it."

Cannonball tackled Marvel Boy sending them both tumbling across the lawn. But once he had the telekinetic down, things got difficult. Cannonball kept being pushed aside as if he was nothing. Every time he tried to land a punch, the man moved or blocked it with a telekinetic shield. And kept smiling. Cannonball wanted to bash that smile off the man's face. A telekinetic punch shoved him into a tree. He slid to the ground.

Then his head cleared. The rage was gone. He could think.

"You really aren't that good," the other man said moving closer, thinking that Cannonball was unconscious. "Why she is with you when she could have someone better, I have no idea." He came to stand over the blonde haired mutant.

Cannonball got to his feet slowly and unsteadily. Marvel Boy smiled.

Suddenly, Cannonball's fist, encased in his field, hit Marvel's Boy jaw. The man went flying back and hitting the ground. He did not move. Cannonball looked down at his opponent. While a part of him still wanted the man dead, Cannonball hadn't killed him. Hopefully, his jaw would need to be wired shut.

Shaking, Logan back off from Cyclops and sheathed his claws. Cyclops slowly lowered his hand from his visor. "What?" he said.

Logan looked around. He saw Storm and Firestar in the air. Beneath them, looking frightened and shocked, was a dark haired man who began to run a second too late. Cyclops's optical blast caught the man in the back. Logan jumped on top of him, claws fully extended and arm pulled back for a killing blow. "Wolverine," Cyclops shouted. "That's not why we're here."

Breathing heavily, Logan back down. It was kind of mean to kill a man after he had pissed himself.

Cannonball came up. "Everyone calm, now?"

Logan nodded.

There was a crash and all the X-men turned towards the house.

It looked like it was burning. Some force was leaking from the windows.

"Kurt," Storm breathed, causing it to rain before anyone else could do anything.

There was one scream from the house.

As the three flyers approached, Jean, towing Beast and Nightcrawler, burst her way out of the ground floor. "Don't bother," she shouted. "Everyone else has fled."

Selene made sure that her team was in the van before ordering her driver to leave. She couldn't care less about Frost or the others. It would, however, take too long to gain the loyalties of others. She needed her team. Despite this set back, they still had power. There was that former student of Xavier's who seemed willing to join them. There was Magneto and his offer. She would recover from this defeat.

At least, she thought with a small amount of satisfaction, someone had taught Frost a lesson.

Westchester-the next day

"Hold on," Sam said as he gently stopped Angel from leaving the shower. "You still have some shampoo in your hair." He pulled her back under the water and rinsed off her hair. "There."

"Thank you," she said, turning in his arm, pressing herself against him before kissing him.

He pressed her against the wall of the shower, enjoying the taste and feel of her. "When was the last time we went out on a real date?" he asked as he ran his hands over her body. His lips trailed down her neck.

"Before the attack, I think," she murmured.

"Ah thought so. Let's go out, have dinner and go to a movie," his tongue teased at a nipple. "Then we can come back here. ... "

"And have another shower," she finished, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Ah was thinking a long, slow, exhausting night in bed," he whispered as he thrust inside of her, "But Ah'm sure we can work in a shower."

"Worthington is going to use this mutant to try to find a "cure"?" Xavier asked Beast as the two men sat on the patio watching Nightcrawler playing soccer with a few students.

"He thinks so," Beast put down his glass of orange juice. "We'll talk later. I promised Jean that I would look at scans of Rogue."

Xavier nodded but his gaze did not move from the tableau in front of him. How many of them, he wondered, would take the cure. Did it mean the end of mutant kind?

What would Magneto do once he found out?

Of course, they might not be able to create a cure at all.

Right now, he should, as Jean and Moria sometimes nagged him, live in the moment. He began to move towards the game. They seemed to need a referee.


End file.
